Arguments for or against banning offensive books from the library

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Just wanted to get some input from fellow CAGs; I have to write an argument essay on the banning of library books that are deemed offensive and. I'm writing against banning, but possible arguments for either side are fine, as I have to address both sides of the issue. Any help is greatly appreciated.

Thanks!
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Who decides what is offensive?

And since anything can and will offend someone, should we just ban all books? (Which is hinted upon in Fahrenheit 451).
 
Books lead to schools, schools lead to students, students come here and ask us to do their work for them. Therefore, books should be banned.

OP: You'll probably get a lot farther by googling book banning.
 
[quote name='Liquid 2']Who decides what is offensive?

And since anything can and will offend someone, should we just ban all books? (Which is hinted upon in Fahrenheit 451).[/quote]


My points exactly.
 
[quote name='RAMSTORIA']we should ban huck finn, they say the n word in that book and its very outdated and thoughtless.[/quote]

Read Newsweek much?

I don't think ANYTHING should be banned from the library. In someone's mind, anything that is an expression or artform should be available to the public if the author so chooses. For fuck's sake, the local library has dvds available for loan and I could take out Basic Instinct and see Sharon Stones vagina, but a book with the n-word in it is offensive?
 
Here, let me write your essay for you.


Nobel Prize Laureate in Literature, Will Butler Yeats, once said in a discussion about the proper disposal of unsavory literature, "Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire[1]." As Wikipedia eloquently states:

"William Butler Yeats (pronounced /ˈjeɪts/; 13 June 1865–28 January 1939) was an Irishpoet and dramatist and one of the foremost figures of 20th-century literature. A pillar of both the Irish and English literary establishments, in his later years Yeats served as an Irish Senator for two terms. He was a driving force behind the Irish Literary Revival, and along with Lady GregoryEdward Martyn founded the Abbey Theatre, and served as its chief during its early years. In 1923, he was awarded a Nobel Prize in Literature[1] Yeats is generally considered one of the few writers whose greatest works were completed after being awarded the Nobel Prize;[2] such works include The Tower (1928) and The Winding Stair and Other Poems (1929)" and for what the Nobel Committee described as "inspired poetry, which in a highly artistic form gives expression to the spirit of a whole nation;" and he was the first Irishman so honored."

Who am I, in the face of such genius, to argue against his position? The man is a goddamn pillar[2]. I respect that you want me to argue against the banning of books, but giving into tyranny is something a lesser man would do. Yeats taught me to stand up for what's right, and frankly, writing that essay would not be right. Instead, allow me to leave you with a poem Yeats wrote in response to the idea of a world in which offensive books were to be available to people.

The Second Coming

Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned.
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity
Offensive books really suck

~William Butler Yeates

Works cited:
[1] http://www.readfaster.com/famousquotes.asp
[2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Butler_Yeats
 
[quote name='Nathan_Sama']My library has the Watchmen graphic novel.
Does that make it AWESOME? or shameful?[/quote]

Shameful that you haven't stolen it yet.
 
I'll quote West Wing...

"He [An English teacher] banned Fahrenheit 451 which is about banning books!"

You can't ban anything, besides Pride and Prejudice, because cenorship is horrible, but P&P is worse.
 
The only argument for banning a book is so that uppity parents who don't otherwise give a rat's ass about their kids can't have a reason to sue the school when their suddenly precious snowflake is exposed to words and ideas they can see more clearly by switching on the tv.
 
[quote name='disappearer71']Do your homework yourself. Can't you just google someone else's college-level paper for the answers?[/quote]

This.

People, seriously, stop helping people with their goddamn work on this board, if they can't do the shit themselves, it's their own fault when it fucks em over. Do your own damn research, you lazy bastard.
 
[quote name='georox']This.

People, seriously, stop helping people with their goddamn work on this board, if they can't do the shit themselves, it's their own fault when it fucks em over. Do your own damn research, you lazy bastard.[/quote]

lol. No one got fucked over, and I did do my own research, I was just seeing what others thought were good arguments were for book banning. I wasn't expecting the forum to do anything for me

P.S. You seem raged. Did I rape you in SF4?
 
People are insane. Harry Potter is one of the most banned books in schools because it promotes "witchcraft". If books start being banned from librarys what next?
 
[quote name='JMEPO']People are insane. Harry Potter is one of the most banned books in schools because it promotes "witchcraft". If books start being banned from librarys what next?[/quote]


Wire taps and search and seizure without warrants, the denial of due process, and violations of the Geneva Conventions. Oh wait. Nevermind.
 
Libraries suck enough already. Once you start pulling everything that says Hitler, $$$$er and Magic there will be nothing left to read except self help books for depression and books on dieting.

Once you're allowed to ban one thing it will snowball (slippery slope fallacy FTW).
 
[quote name='JMEPO']People are insane. Harry Potter is one of the most banned books in schools because it promotes "witchcraft". If books start being banned from librarys what next?[/QUOTE]

Your mayor gets picked as a VP candidate?
 
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